1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a printer such as an inkjet printer for printing on the surface of media such as CD and DVD media. More particularly, the invention relates to a printer that is arranged compactly for use as a label printer in a media processing device such as a CD/DVD publisher or duplicator.
2. Description of Related Art
In a media processing device such as a CD/DVD publisher, blank CDs, for example, that are stored in a blank media stacker are typically supplied to an internal CD drive that writes prescribed data to the disc. The internal label printer of the CD/DVD publisher then prints a label on the CD label surface, and the disc is then either stored in a finished media stacker or discharged from a disc exit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,918 teaches this type of publisher, and a disc production device with the same arrangement is also taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2000-260172.
In order to achieve a compact media processing device the media stackers, media drives, and label printer must be also be compact. A serial inkjet printer is generally used as the label printer, requiring moving both the print head and the media. The label printer therefore occupies a large amount of space in the media processing device. Realizing a compact label printer is therefore a particularly effective means of achieving a compact media processing device.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2004-34389 teaches an inkjet printer that can be compactly housed in a consumer-grade AV component rack and can print on CDs, DVDs, and other data media. This inkjet printer pulls a disc tray carrying the data media towards the back of the printer. The inkjet printer then moves the disc tray widthwise inside the printer to feed the media to the printing position of the recording head.
It is desirable for CD/DVD publishers and other media processing devices to be of minimum width. Minimizing the width of the CD/DVD publishers makes it necessary to minimize the width of the label printer as much as possible. However, printers of a narrow width suitable for use in a media processing device are not presently known in the literature.
For example, the inkjet printer taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2004-34389 conveys the disc tray to the printing position of the recording head along an L-shaped transportation path that first pulls the disc tray to the back of the printer and then moves the disc tray widthwise to the printer. This inkjet printer then prints while moving the disc tray across the printing position widthwise to the printer. There is, therefore, a limit to how much the printer width can be reduced and still satisfy space requirement needed to pull the disc tray into the printer and to move the disc tray bidirectionally passed the printing position.